Description
British East India Company, the Bengal Presidency, Gold Mohur, ‘frozen’ Hijri year 1202, regnal year 19, Calcutta mint (named ‘Murshidabad’) circa 1793-1818 AD, struck in the name of Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II. Obverse: Legend in Persian, naming the emperor and Anno Hegirae year, translitered as “sikka zad bar haft kishwar sāya fazl ilāh hāmī dīn Muhammad shāh ‘ālam bādshāh, 1202”. Reverse: Legend as obverse, naming ‘Murshidabad’ and regnal year, translitered as “zarb murshīdābād sanah 19 julūs maimanat mānūs”. Edge: Oblique right grain milling. Stevens-4.3; Prid-62; Friedberg-1537. Certified and graded by PCGS as Mint State 63.
The obverse Persian legend has an English translation of “Defender of the religion of Muhammad, Shah ‘Alam Emperor, Shadow of the divine favour, put his stamp on the seven climes, anno hegirae 1202”. The reverse Persian legend has an English translation of “Struck at Murshidabad in the 19th year of his reign of tranquil prosperity”.
The gold Mohur of the Bengal Presidency, a sub-division of the British Empire in India, was one of the denominations chosen during the Australian Proclamation of 1800 by Philip Gidley King, the Governor of New South Wales. In order to retain coinage within the Australian colony, each ‘Proclamation coin’ was given a high face value – the mohur was revalued to One Pound Seventeen Shillings Six Pence. This coin, although a type struck by the British East India Company for use within India, is still considered a piece of Australia’s early colonial history as a proclamation piece.